


Reunion

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: Gen, Post-Series, Post-War, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-17
Updated: 2010-07-17
Packaged: 2017-10-20 12:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/212577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawkeye returns to Crabapple Cove</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion

Almost a year had passed and Hawkeye still woke up screaming 3 nights a week. He was enjoying his work, of course, and he couldn't help but smile every time he diagnosed a case of tonsillitis, remembering the lengths they had gone to to get ice cream for Radar.

Crabapple Cove had sent seventeen young men to Korea and had received nine of them back. The day that Hawkeye and five others returned, the other three were waiting on the platform, under a DAR banner that proclaimed "Welcome home sons!"

It had been a comfort to see them, at the time - a spot of military in the sea of civilization they'd been thrown back into. As eager families swept them up, they agreed to meet again.

A week later they had coffee at Rick's Diner. There were no uniforms, but Hawkeye knew… the three who had come home early were all injured. Joe didn't have a right foot, Adam was missing 3 fingers, and Cody had been paralyzed. All three were immensely relieved to learn that Hawkeye was a surgeon; real civilian doctors pitied them too much. Immediately all eight added themselves to Hawkeye's patient list.

It was both painful and rewarding to treat his fellow draftees - Hawkeye still wasn't used to being called a veteran. He could tell, with every visit, that Cody and the others were adjusting well to being back home. They thrived under his understanding and pity-free care, and they began to reference Korea less and less often. They were succeeding where he could not - becoming civilian humans again while he felt stuck - left behind.

The cool chill of a Maine autumn had thrilled him, but with Thanksgiving only a week away, the 4077th reunion was just around the corner. Back in September, Hawkeye had sent an enthusiastic RSVP, promising that he would attend. But now, with only two weeks to go, he was full of doubt.

What would it be like, to see Col Potter and Margaret and Klinger again? To see BJ and to finally meet Peg? Would they be the same people that he had known and … and loved? Would they be his comrades again or would they all be civilians and strangers? He still felt like a stranger in his own body - half expecting to wake up and find himself back in the Swamp.

What if the others felt the same? Would they expect him to be funny and charming and to say just the right thing, as he so often had? Or would they see how broken he was and pity him?

Hawkeye didn't think he could survive their pity.

And what about the others? The ones who had gone home early? Trapper had been a human for three years already; who's to say he would still need a friend as screwed up as he was? He had once felt like dying at the thought of losing Trapper, and now the man had probably forgotten him.

Hawkeye made the mistake - thought he didn't realize it at the time - of mentioning his doubts to Shane. Shane had been a corpsman at the 8055, but they had never met until they returned home. Shane was the one most likely to notice that Hawkeye was upset, and the one most willing to ask him about it.

What Hawkeye didn't know until later, was that Shane still kept it touch with his old unit's radio op, who knew both Radar and Klinger.

All he knew was that, the morning he was supposed to fly to New York City, he came down the stairs to find his father chatting over a cup of coffee with Col Potter. Seeing the old colonel there, Hawkeye felt a rush of emotions that left him breathless.

"Hello there, son," Potter said, smiling his knowing smile. "Imagine my surprise when my wife gets a call from Mrs O'Reilly, saying that her son heard from another radio operator, that a certain surgeon of mine wasn't going to attend our reunion."

"Mildred called me to ask," his father added, "and I let her know - you told me that the reunion had been canceled."

"Ah, the old Korean gossip chain, alive and well in the good old U S of A." Hawkeye replied, his mind still trying to process what he was seeing. If he thought it was awkward to see other young vets in his hometown, that strangeness was nothing compared to the sight of Potter in civvies his living room.

"Why don't you walk with me, son," Potter slowly stood up. "Show me this town you always talked so much about."

Hawkeye didn't want to, but before he could think of an excuse, he found himself bundled up out on the porch with his former CO. He desperately searched for something to say, but before he could speak…

"My Calvary unit had a reunion in 1920, you know. We'd been home for a little over a year, and I'd just started in medical school. We agreed to meet in Colorado, and I made arrangements to hitch a ride out there for it. I even made it through most of Oklahoma before I chickened out and turned back."

Hawkeye dared to glance over at the older man, but he was looking out over the snowy street, seemingly completely involved in his own memories.

"You know, Pierce, of all the mistakes I've made in my life, missing that reunion is one of the ones I regret most."

He knew Potter well enough to hear the underlying message. He would kick himself for the rest of his life if he didn't go to this party. But at the same time, Hawkeye was still afraid that he would hate himself even more if he went and found that everyone else had moved on and left him behind.

"Colonel, you know how much I love your anecdotes…" he began.

"But you still don't figure you'll come," Potter finished.

Hawkeye opened his mouth, intending to spout off some brash reply, but a glance at the older doctor arrested him. Changing tack completely he decided to tell the truth. "Honestly, Colonel, I'm afraid," was the soft admission. "I'm afraid that they'll be civilians again, when I'm not quite sure what I am."

To Hawkeye's intense relief, Potter didn't laugh at him. "Son, my wife'll tell you that it took me a good three years to become a civilian after Dubuya Dubuya Two, and that was my second time in the saddle." The Colonel gave him a sly smile. "Even we _regular army_ folk need a little time to readjust to the home front."

Hawkeye felt a hint of a smile playing about his own lips at the friendly jibe. "I should be grateful for your commissions; at least I can count on you and Margaret to still be military."

"Not me," he smiled proudly. "I've been Ol' Doc Potter for a good few months now. I removed my second set of tonsils last week."

At that Pierce really did chuckle, remembering the way that they all wished to practice civilian medicine. "Well at least Hotlips should be good for a little military insanity in our sea of civility." It was nice to know that his wit hadn't completely deserted him.

"Well I guess you'll know when you see her, son."

"Oh you're a sly one, you are." Hawkeye waggled his finger at the older doctor. "I know what you're trying to do."

"And what is that?" the Colonel grinned.

"You're trying to trick me into agreeing to go to the reunion."

"No tricks involved, son," Potter's voice was level, but he had a hint of the sly smile that Hawkeye remembered. "Besides, the way I understand it, it's too late. You canceled your plane ticket, didn't you?"

"Y-yeah!" He had called up the airline himself and… "Well, a-actually, there's a a small, slight, slight chance that I didn't." A young patient with a broken arm had come in, while he was being transferred, and he'd put the phone down. His nurse must have finally hung it up, because he hadn't noticed it when he returned, and eventually the whole thing had slipped his mind.

Potter smiled his knowing Colonel smirk and Hawkeye knew he'd been caught. "I meant to! I d- did. I- I- I thought I had."

"I understand, son," Potter smiled brightly. "I think your subconscious knew you a little better than your brain did."

A laugh burst out of Hawkeye's throat before he could stop it. "I guess so." He sighed and looked around, searching for something to say. Instead he saw his old army duffle sitting on his porch, fully packed. "So the walk was just an excuse: give my dad enough time to pack out bags."

The Colonel's grin grew even wider, and Hawkeye knew that look; he was going to obey this order. "I've got the seat across the aisle from you two on the plane. I thought I might have to order you to the airport at gunpoint, but it'll be a lot better if you come nicely."

Hawkeye held out his hands as though anticipating being cuffed. "I'm sure. Alright, Colonel, I surrender. Take me, I'm yours!"

Both laughing, they completed the circuit of the neighborhood and arrived back on the Pierce porch. Aside from the duffle and his father's suitcase, Hawkeye saw the small carton of Christmas presents he had picked up for his friends throughout the year. Nothing slipped past his father.

A few moments later a car pulled up and Shane jumped out of the driver's seat, not entirely surprising Hawkeye. "So this is a mass conspiracy." He commented, allowing Shane to put his bags into the back. "Is Cody going to be flying the plane?"

"He lost the coin toss, Doc," Shane replied cheerfully, "You're stuck with the regular pilot."

"Wonderful."

In no time at all, Daniel was staring out the plane window in fascination, while Hawkeye and Potter swapped stories from their civilian practices. The trip was relatively short, but the more time he spent with his old Colonel, the more Hawkeye felt like his old self. When they landed he cheerfully carried the bags to the taxi, and then they were speeding off to the Pierre Hotel.

It was Peg's idea, or BJ's, to have the reunion at the same hotel. All the families had already been there, and the staff was giving them a veterans' discount. Hawkeye and his father quickly settled into their suite while Potter left them to go find his wife. Hawkeye discovered his tux in his duffle bag, and he changed into it while his father freshened up.

As he adjusted his bow tie, Hawkeye was hit by the memory of doing the same thing in Korea, for their Fort Dix picture, for Kinger's wedding, for a night at the O Club… a dozen times he'd worn this penguin suit at the 4077th, but this was the first time since he'd come back to the states.

Maybe he _was_ still stuck in Korea. Maybe this was all some horrible dream and he was about to wake up upside down on his cot to the sound of Charles's snobby records. Maybe they were all still bound to the purgatorial tents and rocks of the 4077th.

Maybe they had never left.

A hand wrapped around his elbow and squeezed reassuringly. Brown eyes met his in the mirror and Hawkeye knew he was back in the world. "Are you ready?" Daniel asked.

"No," he replied honestly.

His father just nodded and stood behind him in silence for a long moment before asking "How about now?"

"Okay." He still wasn't quite ready, but he couldn't stand in front of the mirror all night.

Daniel led the way to the ballroom and then stepped aside at the door, once again giving his son time to gather himself.

After a moment, Hawkeye entered the room. His gaze swept past Colonel and Mrs Potter, Margaret in her dress uniform, and what appeared to be the Klinger clan before resting on a young couple. He knew the back of that head anywhere, and he had seen more photos of Peg than he had of his own father. She nudged his arm, and BJ turned around. Their eyes locked, and Hawkeye saw the same lost draftee looking out at him through those familiar blue depths.

He wasn't the only one. He wasn't alone. Hawkeye was home.


End file.
